182 NARRATIVE OF 1853. 
of all the Indians to hold, and which I had so strenuously and so successfully urged upon the 
government, was, by both, constantly presented to the Indians with whom they were respectively 
in contact, as the most effectual argument to dissuade, in the one case, from aggression, and, in 
the other, from retaliating with undue severity. 
Lieutenant Mullan, besides his constant and judicious intercourse with the Indians, always 
assembled them in council previous to starting on any expedition, informed them of his probable 
absence, and gave them good advice in reference to their own affairs. They were very glad 
to have him mediate in their disputes, and they cheerfully acquiesced in his decisions. So 
much solicitude did he feel in regard to Indian affairs, that in his Fort Hall expedition he made 
it the subject of a special report, which is given in full in volume I of the Pacific Railroad 
Reports. In that report, (written from Fort Hall,) speaking of the Blackfeet council, he says: 
“Тһеу (the Flatheads) received the intelligence of the council with much joy and exultation, 
and they now look forward to the coming summer as the time when they are to date a new and 
happy period in their nation's history." And again: ‘‘The report of the council at Fort Benton 
has spread throughout the whole Indian country as on the wings of lightning, and has been 
received as a harbinger of glad tidings to all." I received from him, at every opportunity, 
reports in regard to the Indian tribes, which were of the greatest service, and which enabled 
me better to comprehend their feelings, wants, and the proper mode of managing them. The 
fact that he left the valley in the fall of 1854 with the sincere regret of all the Indians who 
knew or had heard of him, is the best evidence of his services in connexion with them. Not 
one unpleasant thing occurred during his year’s sojourn in the wilderness which marred the 
propriety of the intercourse of his party with them, or tended to diminish his influence over 
them. 
The individuals of Lieutenant Mullan’s party had equal respect for him, and they were 
generally cheerful and contented, and prompt to perform their duties. Yet the party was at 
all times on short rations of flour, sugar, and coffee, and much of the time lived exclusively on 
meat. I received many letters from him referring to the almost entire dearth of articles which, 
in settled communities, are considered almost indispensable to sustain life, and urging the 
necessity of despatching a train with supplies as soon as possible. Yet there was no complaint, 
and his cheerful spirit impressed itself upon all his men. І found it impossible to get off a 
train in the fall and winter, and one did not reach him til June. Some of the provisions left 
for him the previous fall were spoiled. He passed through the winter and spring quite well, 
on the allowance to each man of four pounds of fresh beef a day. The Flathead cattle keep in 
good order throughout the winter, and no difficulty was found in purchasing beeves at reason- 
able rates. 
I have deemed it a simple act of justice to this most promising and meritorious officer to say 
this much. His judgment and discretion were equal to his boldness and resource, which 
qualities had been exhibited not only in his winter explorations, but in those of the spring, 
when the streams were up and hazardous crossings had to be made. He made remarkable 
contributions to existing knowledge, both of the snows and the geography of the country, at a 
season of the year and under circumstances when most men would have done nothing. I left 
with him, in October, nothing but disabled animals, for every sound one was used in connexion 
with other parties. The day after my departure he moved his camp to the best grass of the 
valley, and on the sixth day afterwards he was in his saddle, with a portion of his party, going 
to the waters of the mission. And such was his promptness and energy throughout. 
